Team Izumi: The Chunin Exams
by Author-sama and Spark
Summary: "Woo! Go Akira!" "Would you shut up for five seconds?" The story of the Chunin Exam at the beginning of Shippuden. Contains mild OCxOC and quite a bit of strong language. Mentioned canon pairings. I crave your input!
1. Finally Out! Let's Start the Fighting!

Author-sama: Helloooo everyone! Welcome to "Team Izumi: The Chunin Exams"! Spark, explain the premise to the nice readers.

Spark: "Team Izumi: The Chunin Exams" takes place during the Chunin Exams at the beginning of Shippuden. Amaya is the only one on Team Izumi who is still a Genin, so she teams up with Arashi and Hitomi, the still-Genin of Team Seito, to become Chunin. The story picks up just as the second test is about to end.

Author-sama: Correct! Have a cookie. Now, the important thing is... Since you need a three-person team to take the Exam, they all have to pass, or else they'll have to wait until there's another incomplete Genin team to take the exam. Oh, and our lovely protagonists are from Kirigakure.

Spark: The pairings included are... OCxOC in the form of AraHito, onesided Amaya/anyone attractive, and onesided RenAma! Onesided OCxCanon in the form of AmaHina, AmaGaa, and NanaGaa! And the shipping of NaruHina and ShikaTema! Is there anything else, Author-sama?

Author-sama: Well, how about the disclaimer?

Spark: Author-sama doesn't own Naruto. If she did, Team Kurenai would have much more screentime.

Author-sama: Excellent! Now, let's get on with...

**Team Izumi: The Chunin Exams**

**Episode One: Finally Out! Let's Start the Fighting!**

Ah yes, Konohagakure's famous Fifty-fourth Training Ground, also known as the Forest of Death. According to some of the local Genin, everything there is nastier because the trees are fed by the spilled blood of unfortunate and/or careless ninja. The premise isn't all that outlandish, given the giant trees, deadly animals, man-eating plants, and-

"HOLY FUCKING SON OF A RETARDED TADPOLE!"

"Calm down, genius. It's just a giant centipede."

Oh, right. The giant bugs.

The yelling one was Tsukino Amaya. Age fifteen, brunette, blue eyes. Underweight, decidedly short. Currently paralyzed with fear and muttering very inventive M-rated phrases. The calm one was Hitomi. Age fourteen, black hair, pink eyes. Attractive figure hidden under sensible black and brown clothes. Currently hoping for a miracle that would deliver a Heaven Scroll into their hands.

"Hey girls. I brought some fish from... Oh god, what is that?"

And that was Arashi. Age fourteen, blue hair, black eyes. Muscular, causing an increase in Hitomi's production of saliva. Currently recovering the fish he had nearly dropped at the sight of the giant centipede.

Amaya cleared her throat, snapping out of the bug-induced paralysis. "Oh good, food," she said, noting said dead animal with no hint of her earlier panic. "Hitomi, you eat until you have enough chakra replenished to scout out the other stragglers with Underground River. Arashi, you and I will have normal rations."

The younger Genin nodded, grunting in confirmation. Arashi took a kunai to the fish, which had clearly already been cooked with his Fire Aura. After a quick "itadakimasu," the three dug in.

"There were 22 teams when the survival test began," Amaya started between bites. "Half of them probably got their asses kicked one way or another in the first day or two. So besides us there are about seven teams left. I was thinking-"

"Ten teams," Arashi corrected. "Half of 22, minus us."

"The teams from Kusagakure, Kumogakure, and Takigakure would have had no problems getting past everything here," Amaya explained. "Sorry I didn't clarify..."

"Great," Hitomi muttered. "Three fashion disasters, three crazy girls, and three total jerks."

"Eat your food," said Amaya. "But yeah, we might be doomed."

Arashi, wondering if the total gloominess was just girl-weird, ate his fish.

~X~

"Here should be good," Hitomi said, looking around the area. In a relatively large gap between trees, the ground was interrupted by a patch of soft, reddish clay that prevented the growth of any pesky grass. Hitomi stood in the center of the exposed clay, breathing deeply and steadily before weaving the signs for her signature technique.

"Underground River Jutsu!"

The earth under her feet rumbled subtly, and a network of hairline cracks ran through the clay. After about three seconds of anticipation, the ground simply crumbled away, swallowing Hitomi with the sound of steadily flowing water.

"Be sure to find out which teams there are!" Arashi shouted after her, cupping his hands around his mouth. "We'll kick total ass anyway, but Amaya needs to strategize!"

Amaya "hmm"ed in agreement, sitting in a meditative stance. She tried her best to clear her mind, attempting to build up chakra the way she always did before a fight.

_In, two, three, four... Out, two, three, four... _she thought, focusing on measuring her breaths. _In, two three, There were Amegakure ninja in the exams. Out, two, Were any of them Tsukinos? four... In, two, three, It's been like 20 years since my family's branch split and went to Kiri... Out, I'd still like to see if the Ame branch is doing well, three, four..._

She shook her head, dispelling her thoughts. She couldn't act like this every Chunin Exam. Yes, there were Amegakure ninja. Yes, some of them might be Tsukinos. No, she wasn't allowed to care. All she had to worry about was what to do if she met someone else from the "weak genius" Tsukino clan.

One corner of her mouth turned up into an amused half-smile. If that happened, it would be a fun battle.

"Something funny?" Arashi asked. Apparently, he had moved to lean on a tree while Amaya was lost in her thoughts. She would have to be more aware of her surroundings.

"Just thinking," Amaya replied. "It's what I do."

An awkward silence stretched between them. They were a strategist and a meat shield; there wasn't much for them to talk about. Somewhere in a nearby bush, there was the distinct sound of insect legs. Amaya flinched and pulled her legs up against her chest.

"So... fear of insects," Arashi said. "What's with that?"

"Not insects," Amaya denied. "Insects that are bigger than a cockroach and have a habit of running over everything they come across, sticking their feelers everywhere."

"Oh. Ew. ...When I was little, gross centipedes would show up in the bathtub. Sometimes I wouldn't notice until I stepped on one."

"That's fucking disgusting."

"Yeah."

Some kind of flying beetle landed on the clay and made a few weird noises. The ground shook slightly, and the beetle flew off just as a person-sized geyser erupted where it had been sitting. Hitomi, quite drenched, was propelled out of the column of water. Arashi took a few quick steps forward and caught her by the shoulders before she stumbled into a tree.

"There's a team of Amegakure Genin just north of us," Hitomi said, forming the snake hand seal and canceling the Underground River Jutsu. "They don't look like much, from what I can see by popping my head above ground occasionally. They're all wearing super-tacky jumpsuits, and I'm sure the one with the scroll is hiding it in this red belt thing. No one's butt has a scroll-shaped lump."

"Right," said Amaya, nodding. "Were they carrying any weapons? How was their muscle build?"

"It didn't look like they had anything besides the normal shuriken and kunai. They were all pretty thin."

"Probably genjutsu specialists, then. We should be okay." Amaya stood up from her curled-up position, stretching out her arms. "You lead, Hitomi. Arashi, you and I are the back two points of the triangle."

There were two "yeah"s of confirmation, and then the three ninja were blurs moving between the trees.

~X~

Hitomi held up a hand, the universal code for "Everybody stop!" Everybody stopped.

"Over there?" Amaya murmured softly, gesturing subtly to her front and left.

"Yeah," Hitomi responded in a whisper. "You see the one with the red belt?"

Amaya squinted slightly, spotting a flash of red moving at an incredible speed. "They're running straight for the goal," she realized. "That means they have both scrolls. This is great... Bitches won't see it coming, they're too focused on making it there before the deadline." She loved deus ex machina. She really, really loved deus ex machina.

"Yes!" Arashi cheered in an excited whisper. "We don't need to waste any time worrying which scroll they have. So, what's the plan for-"

"We know you're there." The voice sounded vaguely mechanical, muffled and distorted through the metal breathing mask. Amaya froze, hitting her head on the nearest tree in the confines of her mind.

"Whispers carry, you know," a second voice notified them. Three Ame Genin in the anticipated tacky jumpsuits jumped into the Kirigakure team's field of vision. The one in the middle wore a wide piece of red cloth tied around (his? her? probably his) hips.

"And wearing bright red is a dumb idea," Hitomi replied, crossing her arms. "Not only does it make you unbelievably not-stealthy, but adding an accent color really just enhances how stupid those outfits look." Ah, typical fashionable-but-practical Hitomi.

"Unless it's bait," Amaya pointed out casually, as if commenting on someone else's situation. "Wear something bright and attention-grabbing, make it look like you're hiding the scroll there, and actually have it hidden somewhere completely different."

Arashi blinked a few times before muttering a few very rude things about someone's mother. "Just when did you figure that out?" he asked.

"When I realized they must have both scrolls. Hitomi only mentioned seeing one in the guy's belt. It was already too late by then, though." She turned her attention back to the Ame ninja. "Look," she said, "how about you just give us your Heaven Scroll, tell me how the Tsukinos are doing, and we can both be on our way without any of you getting broken bones."

"...No," the red-belted one said with bored finality. He clasped his hands together, fidgeting. "How about you hand over your Earth Scroll, give us three less opponents to worry about, and... Wait, the Tsukino clan? Your outfit..."

"Yep!" Hitomi interjected, gesturing to Amaya's distinct zippered T-shirt and abundance of pointless bandages. "Kirigakure branch Tsukino clan. Let me tell you, that is _style. _Fixed color scheme, useful but unobtrusive cargo pockets, convenient and elegant zipper... Tsukinos know what they're doing."

"I thought the Kiri Tsukinos died out," one of the jumpsuited ones mused.

"Yeah, some jackass decided to pull an Uchiha and make a name for himself... Didn't work though, the 'weak genius' clan is a lot less attention-grabbing than a 'strong genius' clan." That one hadn't spoken until just then.

Arashi cleared his throat. "So, uh," he said, "ass-kicking now, discussion of tragic past later? 'Cause I think we're kind of on a schedule..." Amaya nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's get this party started!" Hitomi announced. She reached for a smoke bomb, only to find that she couldn't move her limbs. After a few moments of struggling and grunting, she settled for glaring at the Amegakure Genin and asking "Okay, _the hell?_"

"Genjutsu!" Arashi growled, struggling against the paralyzing illusion. "But none of them used any hand seals; I was making sure!"

Amaya let a sigh-groan-something of frustration. "Damn, you guys," she said irritatedly. "You've been pretty well-trained if you can disguise the seals for this as a nervous habit."

"Eh?" Arashi and Hitomi asked in unison.

~X~

"_...No," the red-belted one said with bored finality. He clasped his hands together, fidgeting._

~X~

"It was back then," Amaya explained. "Shit, I keep noticing this stuff too late... I must not be getting enough sleep." She attempted to flex her fingers, tipped with silver-painted claws that could easily cause the pain necessary to dispel a genjutsu without expending any of her limited chakra. No use... Her joints seemed to be locked in place.

"Now," said the leader of the opposing trio, "which one of you has the scroll? We really don't need you three cluttering up the third test." The Kiri Genin looked straight ahead, making no motion except the occasional blink. Giving away nothing, just as their Jonin senseis had taught them.

~X~

"_Lesson one when captured," the sad-looking Jonin kunoichi said, holding a tiny knife made of ice against Kaito's jugular. "Do nothing. If they ask you something, do nothing that could give away the slightest hint of an answer. Now, which of those clones is the real Nanami?"_

~X~

"I'm pretty damn smart, you know," Amaya started. "Figuring out all your tricks like that. But can you be sure that I really was too late with all my deductions?"

"What do you mean?" one of the Ame ninja asked. "We have your team captured, don't we?" He gestured to them in their frozen state.

"I could have known it all before this even started," she suggested. "Maybe none of us have the scroll. Maybe we don't even have one, and the whole 'give us your Heaven Scroll' thing was all a ruse. This could all be one big trap." She bit her lip, chewing the flesh thoughtfully. "You never know, you know?"

~X~

"_It could be neither of them," Kaito suggested. "They could both be clones. Or maybe one of them is Amaya, using a genjutsu as a disguise. You just can't know, yeah?" The Ice Style user chuckled a little behind the bandages over her mouth. "Good boy," she said. "You figured it out. Lesson two when captured: always keep your captors guessing. Point out everything they could have done wrong, every chance you had to trick them."_

~X~

"Oh well," said the ninja with the red belt. "It doesn't matter anyway. We have both scrolls. We can just kill you, not care about your scroll, and be on our way to the final round." He pulled a kunai from his equipment pouch, crouching into a stance that indicated preparation for a quick offensive jump-and-jab.

Amaya began trembling. "You don't want to do that..."

"Oh?" he asked. "And why not?" He took two steps forward before propelling himself in a straight, graceful line through the air, kunai aimed precisely at Amaya's heart.

She dodged it.

"Because I broke your genjutsu, motherfucker!" she shouted mirthfully as she sidestepped the attack in a single fluid motion. The Ame ninja flew right past her, eyes widening in shock before they narrowed in anger. Amaya reached out to either side of herself, jabbing each of her temporary teammates in the arm with her hardened nails. Confused but ready, they quickly dodged out of the way as their opponent landed on a branch, then launched himself back at the three.

"How the hell did you do that?" Arashi asked as the Kirigakure Genin dropped from the tree to face their adversaries. "I thought your half-assed natural chakra made it impossible to break anything more than a really basic genjutsu cast by a kid."

"That's right," Hitomi agreed. "And you couldn't move your hands to shock yourself out of it using pain, either."

"Unobservant idiots," Amaya chuckled. "I am surrounded by unobservant idiots."

~X~

_She bit her lip, chewing the flesh thoughtfully. "You never know, you know?"_

~X~

"I injured my mouth," she said, "instead of my palm like I normally do. They left our heads free so we could tell them where our scroll was. It was easy to just bite my lip until the pain broke the genjutsu."

"Well great," Arashi muttered. "Now I feel stupid."

"She is a genius, though," Hitomi protested. "Sometimes it takes one to see the obvious. We should know best, being Ren's teammates. And anyway, Seito-sensei said that Izumi-sensei has this weird thing about tactics when captured. She probably taught Amaya a lot."

"Yeah," Amaya agreed. "She doesn't want us to feel guilty like she did."

~X~

"_And now, the last rule," Izumi said, smoothing her pale kimono with the hand not being used to restrain Kaito. "I am sure as hell not going to tell you kids this. It is how you pass the test." The two copies of Nanami adopted identical fighting stances, preparing for any powerful jutsu (their? her? pronouns suck) teacher might pull out. Kaito struggled against his sensei's grip, her ice blade cutting slightly into his neck._

"_No one...?" Izumi asked. "Disappointing... Your whole team is dead, just because you don't know what to do when you get captured."_

_Behind her, something flickered. There was a blur of black and blue, zippers and bandages, and suddenly Izumi's arms were being twisted behind her back, and Kaito had picked up his swords from the ground of the training field. "I think I know the third rule," her captor said. "It's something like... Don't be captured for long? Always have a Plan B?"_

"_...Something like that," Izumi said. "The whole time you're captured, you cannot just sit around like some helpless princess in a fairy tale. You need to plot and plan and find a way out."_

"_So, we pass?" Amaya asked, releasing her sensei._

"_Yeah... you pass." If only she'd been that bright ten years ago... These kids were pretty cool._

~X~

"Hostage's Rule Number Three, bitches!" Amaya declared to the Amegakure Genin. "Never actually be a hostage!"

"Hey Arashi," said Hitomi with a grin that spoke of barely stifled giggles, "I think these guys are a little cold. You got anything that might fix that? Something in the jutsu department, maybe?"

Arashi grinned. "Yeah, just the thing," he replied. "Fire Aura: Raging Fists!" After a couple hastily woven hand seals, his fists began glowing with a red-orange flame, the phenomenon spreading up his arm, stopping when it reached his elbows. "So here's the thing," he said to the three Ame ninja, who were bearing an array of basic weapons and vaguely frightened expressions. "Either you hand over a Heaven Scroll, or Amaya's earlier promise of broken bones gets to be more than a promise."

"And tell me how the Ame Tsukinos are doing," Amaya added.

"Oh, they're doing well enough," the red-belted leader said casually. "Still good tacticians and all. We're not giving you anything, though. The scrolls are ours, and we _will_ become Chunin."

"Well, that's too bad," Hitomi said, studying her pink-painted nails. "See, you may want to be Chunin, but we need to be. We can't be stuck doing D-rank missions when important crap happens. That's happened too many times already..."

Arashi, while not the brains of the operation, had passed the mental requirements necessary to become a ninja. Therefore, he understood a diversion when he saw one, and automatically took the opportunity to kick some ass. There were three loud, fire-packed punches, each followed by some variant of "oof!" and the dull thud made by unconscious bodies hitting dirt.

"Well," Amaya said, dropping to her knees and rooting through the pockets of the three. "That was really fucking anticlimactic, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Hitomi agreed. "Absolutely no theatrical aesthetics."

"Hey, what time is it?" Arashi asked.

Pocketing the Ame ninja's Heaven and Earth Scrolls, Amaya squinted up at the sky. "Hmm," she mused. "I'd say we have less than half an hour to get to the goal."

"So... we should run?"

"Yeah."

~X~

It took them approximately twenty minutes for the three to reach the goal, three minutes for Amaya to rush her way through the same old riddle that had been there for ages, and four more minutes for them to get to the arena where the preliminaries were to take place. All in all, not the best time on record, but hey. They were a temporary team consisting of not the best ninja on record.

"So," Hitomi said as they lined up alongside fifteen other Genin, "with this many people, we'll have to have a preliminary round, right?" She looked through the crowd, picking out the cute ones, the powerful-looking ones, and the ones who really could use a new outfit.

"Yeah, looks like it," Amaya confirmed. "Skilled enough competition that we need an elimination round... Reminds me of old times."

"You mean your first exam?" Arashi asked. "Kaito told me you guys didn't even get to the third test." He was right; Team Izumi had spent most of their time in the second test hiding and making preparations, and had eventually been ambushed by Team Guy. Not their best five days ever.

"Didn't mean we couldn't sneak in and watch the fights," Amaya said with a shrug. "Security gets really lax when everyone's focusing on the matches." She cast an eye over the Jonin, Chunin and such assembled in the room, taking note of the Fifth Hokage, a few of the foreign team leaders, her "alter-ego" Nara Shikamaru, and speaking of deer-boy... "Hey, we're missing a cute Suna girl. Where the hell's Temari?"

"Some emergency in Sunagakure," Hitomi informed her in a lowered voice. "Totally classified."

"Oh good," Arashi said with a smile, "I was wondering when Amaya was going to lesbian up the place. You had me worried. Thought you might have turned straight."

Amaya made a point of clearing her throat. "I've liked guys, you know," she protested. "Anyway, can we leave my sexual orientation out of this? Hitomi, what kind of emergency?" She was vaguely aware of Tsunade-sama explaining the whole "Chunin exams as a replacement for war" thing up on the platform in front of them. Next to them, a young-looking blond Takigakure Genin gasped, and two Suna boys of similar age looked startled and on the verge of yelling.

"The kind of emergency that calls for the tightest security they've had in years," Hitomi said, her eyes narrowing like they always did when she gossiped about something confidential. "Seito-sensei says it's got Mizukage-sama pretty suspicious."

"I would appreciate it," a redheaded Suna kunoichi interrupted in a quiet murmur, "if you didn't discuss my village's internal affairs while I'm trying to keep Shingo and Sho from making a scene."

Amaya glanced over, giving the Suna team a quick once-over. Two younger boys, and the older girl who was grabbing both of them by the hair. "I apologize," Amaya said with a shallow bow. "We'll keep out of Sunagakure's business." She was in Exemplary Potential Chunin Mode, looking nice and polite for the crowd. Not to mention blatantly staring at the black-cloth-covered lines of the other girl's body.

Okay, so she would drool over any non-bitch with nice hips. So sue her.

"Lesbianing up the place," Arashi interjected.

"Shut. Up," Amaya ordered. The Sunagakure kunoichi looked at the three Kiri ninja with an expression that could have been anything from amusement to stay-the-hell-away-from-me before returning her attention to her teammates.

As her friends made fools out of themselves, Hitomi looked over the assembled Genin again. Amaya's prediction had been correct: the teams from Kusagakure, Kumogakure, and Takigakure were all present, looking boredly up at the Hokage and their Jonin senseis. Joining them were the three neighboring Sunagakure ninja, three tough-looking teenagers from Iwagakure, and her own team. Three of the boys were cute – including Arashi – and six people needed new outfits.

_No Konoha ninja,_ she noted. _Isn't that unusual._

She was about to voice her opinion when Amaya grabbed both of her teammates by the shoulders, directing them towards the platform at the (front? back? who's to say?) of the room. "Listen to the proctor," she muttered, gesturing with a toss of of her head.

The proctor for the third exam was some random Konohagakure Jonin. Amaya had no idea what his name was, and she didn't really care. "Now, we'll start the preliminary round," he announced, sounding somewhat distracted. "Hmm, that hasn't happened in a while... Oh, right. None of you want to quit, I hope? We have a nice even number here..."

There was a mass shaking of heads, a few shouts of refusal. Someone muttered "ow!" when an Iwagakure kunoichi accidentally smacked him with her ponytail.

"Oh, all right then," the proctor said. "Now, I think we have the computer thing ready... right?" Another Konoha ninja nodded in affirmation. "Great, then... Well, get on with it, I guess."

Everyone's attention shifted to a large screen on the wall. "I've got some food pills with me," Amaya muttered, taking said items out of her pockets and distributing them throughout the team. "You'll need all your strength. Remember, none of us can be eliminated." The screen cycled through names with a nice sound effect, and the Kiri Genin ate their food pills, standing in various states of tension. After a few seconds, the computer decided on two names.

"Let's see," the proctor droned in a bored tone. "...Shingo and Akira, is it? Come on up, you guys."

One of the young Suna Genin from earlier stepped forward, waving. "Shingo here," he said. He had short black hair and cheerful-looking brown eyes. Judging by his clothes and the wrappings on his hands, he probably fought mostly with taijutsu. Pale skin, though, so he probably hadn't spent much time in the field. His headband hung limply around his neck. "So... Akira?" he asked. "Which one of you is Akira?"

"Go, Akira! Show everyone how cool you are!" With that shrill cheer, the second contestant was pushed out of the line of Kumogakure ninja.

She was a gloomy-looking kunoichi with the dark skin of most Kumo residents. Her gold eyes were framed by long, neatly made-up eyelashes, and her chin-length navy blue hair hung in her face. She was dressed all in blue, black, and mesh armor. "Idiots," she muttered with a glance back at her cheering team. "Fine, let's get this over with..."

"Good then... Everyone, up to the balcony things. We don't want any of you getting hurt... You know, except these two," the proctor ordered, walking lazily over to the stairs leading to the upper area.

Everyone followed after him, some taking the stairs and others simply jumping up. Amaya opted for the stair option, looking back at the two fighters. It was obvious that Shingo would be fighting with hand-to-hand combat and standard weapons, but Akira's appearance didn't give away much about her fighting style. _It doesn't look like she's carrying any weapons at all,_ Amaya thought. _Maybe she uses mostly genjutsu...? Or she could be the type to keep all her things stored in scrolls..._

Having made their way up to the balcony, the three Kiri ninja looked out over the railing, watching the two Genin face each other. A few feet to Arashi's right, the proctor shouted down, "Okay, you two... Begin!"

Shingo adopted a fighting stance, one hand inching towards his weapon pouch. "I'll warn you in advance," he said with a grin, "I'm just an average kid. Really I'm just here for Shizu and Sho... But don't underestimate me! Shizu says a balanced fighter is a strong fighter, and that's what I am!"

On the balcony thing across from Amaya, the redheaded Suna kunoichi smiled down at her teammate. Next to her, a purple-haired Kumo girl shouted down at Akira. "Don't listen to him!" the purple girl yelled. "You're strong and smart! You can totally take him down! Show him what girls can do!"

Her blue counterpart sighed. "Fine, fine," she said with a roll of her eyes. "If you would just shut up with the boy/girl stuff..." She pulled a scroll out of her clothes, confirming Amaya's theory. Akira bit her thumb, then spread the blood out on the scroll. In a puff of smoke, a katana of standard dimensions appeared before being immediately grabbed by Akira.

"Check it," she said, shifting into a rooted position with the sword held in front of her, blade parallel to the ground.

~X~conclusion~X~

Author-sama: And here we have our cast of characters... Arashi, the "tank" figure with a fire-based jutsu, rare in Kiri! Hitomi, the fashion-loving girl with a stealthy technique and a practical mindset! And Amaya, a genius tactician with fair taijutsu and a completely unoriginal backstory!

Spark: Will they succeed in their quest to become Chunin? Will Amaya score any girls? Will Akira's teammates drive her crazy? One thing's for sure – I'm not getting paid for this!

Author-sama: So, how did you readers like it? I crave ego fuel, so please leave a review. Criticism will be greatly appreciated, and compliments will be treated like the most holy of bishonen. I want any advice you have about my writing, and did I mention the ego fuel? Oh, and please point out any and all spelling and/or grammar errors I missed!

Spark: Author-sama doesn't have a set update schedule, but she'll try to put up a chapter at least once a week or so. It helps that she actually wrote an outline.

Author-sama: Yes, I've been nurturing my planning skills. Anyway! Next time on "Team Izumi: The Chunin Exams"...

**Episode Two: Sword Expert vs. Normal Guy... This Shouldn't Take Long**

"Woo! Go Akira!"

"Would you shut up for five seconds?"

_1-29-2011: Corrected spelling error._


	2. Sword Expert vs Normal Guy

Author-sama: Welcome back, dear readers, to "Team Izumi: The Chunin Exams"! I'm so sorry for updating late...

Spark: Hell, it would have been late anyway, but she also got dragged off to Florida for Thanksgiving break.

Author-sama: Yes! Apparently my aunt and uncle don't have internet! But anyway, now that I've taken all my tests and crap, you'll probably be enjoying more frequent updates.

Spark: _Sure_ they will... Lazybones.

Author-sama: La la la, I'm not listening to you. Lovely peoples, I do not own Naruto! However, one of my favorite-but-sexist-as-hell mangaka does. Now, on with...

**Team Izumi: The Chunin Exams**

**Episode Two: Sword Expert vs. Normal Guy... This Shouldn't Take Long**

"Check it."

Amaya could almost hear the dramatic music playing – a low beat that would have made her head throb from the pulsing bass. "This should be over pretty quickly," she commented to her teammates, "so don't you go expecting anything incredible and kickass." Nevertheless, she stared intently down at the arena, glancing between the two fighters.

Shingo's stance shifted as his opponent brandished her sword, looking at him with a bored expression. He was taking in all the information he could about Akira's fighting style, moving into a lower position so he could easily duck down and ignore any horizontal slashes.

He reached behind himself into his equipment pouch, pulling out four shuriken, fitted neatly between his fingers.

Akira blinked slowly, not moving an inch.

Shingo jumped up with surprising speed, sending each of the shuriken flying. Akira ducked down, moving her sword upwards simultaneously. The four projectiles were each deflected back at the Suna boy.

"Huh," a Kusagakure kunoichi somewhere to Amaya's left commented, "she aimed sorta low... Maybe she's not really all that good after all."

"Not necessarily," one of her teammates said, resting his arms on the nearby railing. "Pay attention to the way the kid is moving in the air." He gestured to Shingo with a toss of his head.

The young Genin was falling back from his jump, and had little control of the direction his body was moving. When Akira had deflected the shuriken, they had been aimed at about where his ankles were. Now, however, they were at waist level... chest level...

Shingo moved his hands as if grabbing at something in the air. Four wires suddenly became apparent to the spectators, each attached to one of the throwing stars. He pulled up on the wires, moving the shuriken in an arc over his head as he landed solidly on the ground. After spinning the wires in a few circles to make the weapons gain momentum, he aimed the four shuriken back at the Kumo girl, clearly intending to snare her in the wires.

After standing motionlessly for most of the time it took for the shuriken to reach her, Akira stuck her sword in the floor. As it sunk into the stone slightly, she lifted herself off the ground, moving in a single lightning-quick movement to be perfectly balanced, upside-down, supporting herself with both hands grasping the hilt of the sword. As the wires wrapped around the blade, she shifted back to the ground just as quickly and brought her sword back up out of the ground before tugging sharply on it, lifting one leg. Shingo, not having enough time to let go of the wires, was dragged through the air by his hands.

There was a loud sound somewhere between "thud" and "crack" as Akira's foot collided with the younger boy's head. He was propelled backwards, eventually falling to the ground and rolling along to a stop.

Up on the balcony, Shingo's teammates, who Amaya figured must have been the "Shizu" and "Sho" he had mentioned, both adopted expressions of mixed shock and worry.

Akira freed her sword from the wires and planted it in the ground, leaning on it with one elbow on the handle. She closed her eyes and adopted a bored, flat expression. "Way to go, Akira!" her loud teammates shouted in unison. "You totally kicked his ass!" She let out a frustrated sigh.

Across the room, Shingo slowly and shakily got to his feet, muttering something about his head and a pink elephant. He reached up and rubbed his scalp, tilting his head around. "Ugh..." he said. "Aren't you sword users supposed to have poor lower body strength?"

"Just the hideously unbalanced ones," Akira replied with a shrug, opening her eyes. She moved back into a fighting stance, holding her sword horizontally again. "Could you give up or something? I really don't want Akari and Akemi to keep yelling..."

"No way!" Shingo protested. "If I'm going to lose, I'll do it without being a coward!" He moved his legs into a stance from which he could easily break into a run. _Okay, _he thought, _it's obvious she's using one specific style for her fighting. That stance with the sword held sideways... I should probably examine her moves more._

~X~

Up on the balcony, the Kirigakure Genin were looking down intently at the battle. While Arashi and Hitomi were both focused on Akira, Amaya studied Shingo's stance and facial expression.

"He's fairly smart," she commented, "seeing as he's planning to get more information about her style before attacking seriously, but it seems like he's lacking common sense and into the sentimental bravery bullshit. He's done a lot of practicing, but little to no actual fieldwork." She drummed her long nails on the railing, causing a faint ringing sound.

"On the other hand," Hitomi added, "Akira seems to have a bunch of both practice and fieldwork. But she's lacking in... Hmm, how should I put it?" She glanced hopefully at Amaya.

"Motivation?" Arashi suggested, raising his index finger. "She doesn't seem interested in the match at all. I think those crazy teammates of hers dragged her here." He nodded, grunting in confirmation of his own statement.

"Yeah," Amaya agreed with an amused grin. "I think she just wants to get this the fuck over with."

~X~

_Ugh..._ Akira thought. _Can't I just get this the fuck over with?_

She stood still as the Suna boy charged towards her, kunai in hand. He was clearly going to hold back somewhat until he knew more about her fighting style... After all, he had said he was a balanced fighter, yet he wasn't using anything besides taijutsu. She angled her sword to block a _very_ predictable attack with the kunai.

"The way I fight is based on two things," Akira explained flatly as she deflected more blows, one of which came dangerously close to her side. "The first is balance. I use the sword like an extra limb, like when I was doing that handstand on it." She struck Shingo's wrist with the pommel of her sword, knocking the kunai out of his hand. "The second is foreseeing your opponent's attacks." As Shingo circled her, throwing a variety of punches, she ducked and blocked accordingly. "I'm smart, and you're predictable." As he attempted to sock her in the face, she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. "Now can we get this over with?"

"Woo! Go Akira!" The shout had come from a teammate of Akira's, the one with shoulder-length bright pink hair. "Kick his ass! Kick his ass _in the face!_"

Akira muttered several very violent things that only she and Shingo could hear. And Shingo definitely wasn't going to repeat any of them. "Would you shut up for five seconds, Akemi?" Akira asked with a scowl.

While his opponent was distracted by the pink girl, Shingo jerked his head backwards, hitting Akira squarely on the nose. "Guh! Son of a-!" she shouted, clearly very pissed off. "Just for that, I'm actually going to stab you..." Her grip loosened, and Shingo pried himself free, spinning back to face her as he threw a punch.

She blocked his hand with the flat of her sword's blade, grasping the handle with only her left hand. With her right, she was wiping a trail of blood from under her now injured nose. "What's the matter?" Shingo asked brightly, just barely avoiding a slash from Akira's sword. "Not as tough as you act?"

Akira sighed roughly, closing her eyes as she pulled back momentarily, clearly calming herself down. Adopting her original uncaring expression, she took a steady stance as Shingo pulled another kunai from his equipment pouch. "I'm just not taking you seriously enough," she said with a slight shrug. "I'm a sword user and you're not bleeding. That's a sign that I'm holding back, kid."

Shingo moved in circles around Akira, striking out with the kunai. With each attempted stab or slash, the Kumogakure girl blocked effortlessly. "We're pretty much the same age," Shingo protested. "I mean, you can't be more than a year older than me."

"It's not age," Akira countered monotonously. As her opponent struck out once more, she ducked down and jabbed her sword upwards. "It's experience."

The younger fighter cried out in pain, dropping his kunai and clutching his upper left arm, which now sported a small but clearly very deep wound. As Akira pulled her sword back to lean leisurely on it once more, Shingo dropped to his knees, breathing heavily.

"Oh _damn_, that's deep," a blond Iwagakure boy commented worriedly, leaning out over the railing for a closer look. "I'd say she definitely scratched the humerus with that..."

To his left, Akira's two teammates were cheering and shouting several variations on the phrase "kick his ass." Amaya noted that they must have a substantially limited vocabulary.

"Now, I coulda gotten you in the stomach or chest just then," Akira said, "but it would be too much hassle if someone wanted to avenge your death... Give up yet?" She twirled her sword around by the hilt, appearing bored again. However, there was something about the way her eyes were narrowed that made Amaya think the Kumo girl just might be having fun.

Shingo rose shakily to his feet for the second time, still grasping his arm. "I'll never give up!" he swore, wearing a determined expression. Abandoning the use of weapons, he charged forward in a low run, fists clenched.

Akira ceased her sword-spinning, once more standing in the same position. She shifted her feet slightly, sliding them further apart into a more grounded stance.

As the Sunagakure boy reached her, she slashed out with the sword, leaning forward a bit. Shingo ducked just in time before aiming a fist at the girl's stomach. She brought a knee up, colliding it with his chin. He reeled backwards before gaining his balance again. Akira stepped forward several steps in a fraction of a second, aiming a jab at Shingo's chest. He ducked down once more, reaching up with both hands to grab at the hilt of the sword.

The navy-haired kunoichi spun her sword once more, effectively blocking and battering her opponent's fingers. He flinched back, clasping his hands together against his chest.

Amaya looked down interestedly as Shingo quickly formed several hand seals and muttered what she imagined must be the name of a jutsu. _So, _she mused, _he's getting serious..._

The pale boy let out a fierce cry as he spun in circles, launching forth several mini-tornadoes at Akira. As his rotation slowed to a halt, the twisters, of which there were five, raced across the short distance separating the two combatants.

"Wind nature, then," Hitomi commented, leaning her elbows on the railing with her head in her hands. "I guess that figures." Beside her, Amaya and Arashi nodded in agreement.

Two of the mini-twisters began to converge on Akira. Her eyes widened slightly, and she turned and stepped simultaneously in order to dodge them. While one didn't leave a scratch, the other grazed her back, shredding part of her shirt and cutting her back before she slipped away from the whirlwind. She panted slightly, reaching a hand behind her to feel her back. It came back patterned with stripes of blood.

Across the arena from her, Shingo grinned cheerfully. It was the kind of grin that conveys perfectly the expression "how do you like them apples?"

"Akira!" the girl's pink-haired teammate shouted worriedly.

Next to her, a third Kumogakure kunoichi with purple pigtails smirked down at the arena. "She's totally faking!" she announced in a too-loud whisper. "Messing with him, right? She does this all the time, silly!" The pink one immediately brightened up, nodding vigorously.

Another of the small tornadoes approached Akira, and she took a few spinning steps to avoid it. She narrowed her eyes as it whirled around after her. After attempting evasive maneuvers another two times with no success, she jumped up, clearly aiding her muscle strength with chakra focused in her legs and feet. She aimed her sword straight up at the ceiling, maintaining her bored expression. Everyone's eyes followed her as she shot upwards.

A metallic scraping sound echoed through the room as the blade sank halfway into the ceiling. Akira swung her legs up, affixing them to the ceiling with chakra. She placed both hands on the pommel of the sword as if leaning on a cane. Her messy hair hung comically towards the floor.

After a moderate amount of time, the remaining twisters whirled themselves into oblivion. Shingo sagged slightly on his feet, leaning forward and panting. Maintaining the jutsu had obviously taken a toll on him. He swayed before stepping around to regain his balance, looking up to where Akira was standing above him.

She pulled her sword from the ceiling with another scraping noise, flourishing it before launching herself back down. As the Kumo girl fell through the air, she twisted around into an upright position, landing soundly on her feet. "Seriously, kid," she said, raising an eyebrow at Shingo, "it's better if you just give up. Less blood all around."

Despite the offer of nonviolence, Akira once again brandished her sword, hunching over slightly before running straight for the already injured and exhausted boy.

"If he's that tired from just one jutsu," Arashi commented, fidgeting thoughtfully with his electric-blue hair, "he must have even lower chakra than you, Amaya." He glanced over at said older girl questioningly.

"Nah," Amaya protested, "at least he can actually fucking use something vaguely high-level without passing out. For someone who probably just graduated the Academy, he's pretty damn good."

As his opponent approached, Shingo braced himself, pulling another kunai from his equipment pouch. He was still panting and shaking slightly, but his previously warm eyes were fierce as he gazed forward determinedly. Akira quickly covered the distance between them, slashing out at his torso with her sword. The younger boy jumped backwards from the arc of the blade, but he wasn't fast enough. The sword tore through his mesh armor T-shirt, leaving a deep gash on his chest.

The navy-haired girl drew back, preparing for any counterattacks. Shingo let out a coughing groan of pain and fell to his hands and knees. The kunai in his hand produced a ringing sound as it hit the floor. There were cheers from Akira's pink and purple counterparts.

"Don't give up!" a brunette teammate of Shingo's called out. After pausing for a moment, he added in a much quieter tone: "That girl is really powerful... He's gonna lose, right Shizu?" Next to him, the Suna redhead nodded stoically, biting her lip and staring down at the arena.

With a hint of a smirk, Akira stepped forward, placing a foot squarely on each of Shingo's hands. He winced in pain, growling. The older girl raised her sword slowly, leading into a downward slash. The audience gasped as one, and the trapped boy struggled against Akira's weight, trying to free his hands.

"Finish him!" the purple-pigtailed girl shouted, raising a fist in the air. Her blue teammate sighed and rolled her eyes, bringing the sword down with a "_swish_" noise.

~X~

Next to the pink and purple girls, the Sunagakure kunoichi – Shizu, the boy had called her – suddenly took on a ferocious expression, hoisting herself up into a standing position on the railing of the balcony. Moving so fast that Amaya's eyes couldn't keep up with her, she pulled a scroll from out of the pouch on her leg, summoned something from it in an obscuring puff of smoke, and jumped down to the ground, right next to the two fighters.

There was a loud "CLANG" of metal on metal, and just as the smoke from removing whatever it was from the scroll cleared, Shizu was tucking said scroll back into its pouch with a satisfied expression. Akira had moved back off of Shingo's hands and into a defensive position, holding her sword horizontally. "Well," she remarked, "I still win."

The Konoha Jonin proctor leaned out over the railing, laconically confirming, "Yeah... Match goes to Akira. You kids clear out, now..."

Up in the Crazy Kumogakure Kunoichi Corner, Akira's teammates were cheering, yelling things like "Yeah!" and "Girl power!"

Shingo slowly shifted into a sitting position, wincing as he flexed his injured hands. "You shouldn't have interfered," he protested weakly, looking up at his older teammate. "I still coulda beat her..." Shizu grabbed his shoulders and pulled him slowly up to lean on her. "No you couldn't have," she said sternly before turning to Akira with her eyes narrowed in anger.

"I was just doing what I was supposed to do," Akira said with a shrug, "winning the match. The kid wouldn't give up, so I decided to rough him up." She returned her sword to its scroll, glaring up at her teammates. "I don't see why you're so mad, tomato head..."

"You listen to me... _kid_," the older girl countered. "I don't say or do anything unless I mean it. And I definitely meant that. Whether you're in the field or at these exams, your team is always the most important thing. You won't become a Chunin unless you understand that." With that, she wrapped an arm around the younger boy and jumped back up to the railing. She glanced at the brunette boy, who immediately pulled some medical supplies from his equipment pouch.

Akira looked up thoughtfully at the three Sunagakure Genin for a few seconds, then adopted a scowl as her own team jumped down to the arena. They crowded around her, commenting on the stupidity of boys and fawning over her skills.

"Hey," the proctor called down at them. "You girls clear out now. We have another match to do."

~X~

"That Suna girl is definitely getting promoted to Chunin," Arashi commented. "The team-above-everything attitude is exactly what the higher-ups want in a ninja." He leaned out over the railing as the three Kumogakure girls made their way up to the balcony opposite the Kirigakure team.

Amaya "hmm"ed in agreement. "She seems pretty damn powerful, too," she added. "Of course, she'll have to pass this elimination round before she has a shot... There are a lot of of other people here with a shitload of talent." She looked over at Hitomi, expecting an addition to the conversation. The pink-eyed girl shrugged, checking her nail polish for flaws.

Next to them, the proctor looked lazily over at the screen on the wall, watching the names flicker by. After a few seconds of beeping, the computer decided on the first name. "Right... Hitomi?" the proctor asked, looking around the room boredly.

Hitomi looked up at the Jonin, then at the computer screen, before breaking into a grin. "Great," she said cheerfully. "An early match. Nice to get this crap over with so soon..." She swung over the railing, fell several feet down, and landed solidly in a crouch. "'Kay, who's next?" she asked, looking up at the screen.

The flashing names slowed, then ceased as one was decided upon. "So... Chisaki," the proctor announced. "Get your butt down there..."

There was a flicker of movement from up on the balcony, and a girl landed lightly on the floor of the arena. "Hey!" she called cheerfully, flashing a peace sign at Hitomi. "Ready to get your ass kicked?" Chisaki was apparently a Kusagakure kunoichi with long lime-green hair, black eyes, and too much makeup. She wore a short gray dress with wrappings around the midsection, a purple overskirt and gloves, mesh armor underneath, and an orange belt and nail polish. She stood with one hand on her hip, looking across at her opponent with cruelly narrowed eyes.

Hitomi glared back with a smirk on her face. "Metaphorically, I assume," she countered. "It's not like you have enough muscle strength to knock over a chair." She shrugged, then crossed her arms. "And that outfit... It's hella stupid for combat. You expect people to wait while you straighten out your skirts? And how are you supposed to hide in all that bright color?"

Amaya and Arashi both chuckled. It was always fun watching Hitomi tell off another kunoichi for her poor fashion sense and lack of practicality. "You'd think this would get old," Arashi commented, "but for some reason, it never does."

Amaya shook her head, smiling. "I pray for the day when she meets some of the girls here in Konoha," she added. "That... would just be fucking hilarious."

"Okay," the proctor said, leaning over the railing. "You guys... Yeah, you can start now, I guess. Go, or whatever." He then proceeded to stare up at the ceiling, earning some strange looks before everyone turned back to the match.

Hitomi grabbed a kunai from her equipment pouch, then gripped it between her teeth. Her hands were occupied forming many different hand seals in quick succession. Amaya could make out the snake hand seal repeated several times, and she smiled softly. _That's the genius of Underground River, _she thought. _It looks pretty damn exactly like an Earth Style jutsu, right down to the hand seals. You wouldn't know it was Water Style unless you tried it yourself... Or had the Sharingan._

Across from Hitomi, Chisaki was forming hand seals of her own. Hers were even faster, and Amaya could only catch fleeting glimpses of them. The Kusa kunoichi and Hitomi finished weaving seals at almost exactly the same time. As Hitomi disappeared below the ground – the hole she made was smaller than usual, probably as a courtesy to future fighters – nothing visible happened on Chisaki's end. Amaya noted that the girl was obviously a genjutsu user.

Beneath the ground, in a rushing current of water, Hitomi replayed the events of the past few seconds in her head. She and that Kusa girl had cast their jutsu at about the same time... But who had been first? Chisaki had definitely been using genjutsu, so Hitomi had to be sure that she hadn't been affected.

Above the ground, Chisaki shouted, "Damn! She got away..." Well, that answered that... Although genjutsu users were notoriously good at bluffing, as was apparent to anyone who spent time with Amaya.

Out of Hitomi's line of sight, Chisaki began forming another set of hand seals.

Hitomi guided her chakra through the water, creating a slightly meandering path across the arena. She honed in on Chisaki's chakra, building up the water pressure behind the green-haired girl. Allowing herself to be carried with the current, Hitomi rushed forward to the designated area. Her lungs were filled with more than enough air for several minutes of hiding, the result of an incredible amount of intense training.

The ground just behind Chisaki began rumbling slightly. She whirled around, still weaving hand seals, with a vaguely surprised expression on her face. A small geyser, just a bit wider than the span of a person's shoulders, erupted from the floor.

Hitomi emerged from said geyser, lunging out with her kunai at an amazing speed. Up on the balcony, Arashi let out a cheer. "Yeah, beat her up!" he called, leaning out over the metal railing. Next to him, Amaya looked over the battle with a raised eyebrow, assessing the situation.

Just as Hitomi struck forward with the kunai, Chisaki finished with her hand seals. With a victorious cry of "Ha!" she finished with a bird seal, shoving her hands forward at Hitomi. The pink-eyed girl froze midair, then fell forward. Chisaki stepped to the side, avoiding the path of the illusion-trapped kunoichi's falling body.

Hitomi landed on her hands and knees, head lifted to look at something only she could see. "Aw, man!" Arashi shouted. "Come on, snap out of it!"

~X~

Within the genjutsu, Hitomi was surrounded by pale flower petals in a veritable rainbow of colors. They swirled around her, filling the air with a sweet, relaxing scent. Her environment became a blur of shapes, and the voices of the crowd faded to a dull murmur. She was suddenly so very tired... A nap would be just the right thing... Her thoughts, too, fell away, sending her into a dreamy stupor.

"...snap out of it!" a voice called. "Come on, Hitomi! You won't be beaten by this stupidly dressed girl, right? Use your chakra to..." The voice once again became a quiet, unintelligible muttering.

"Arashi...?" Hitomi asked, blinking through the haze of the many flower petals. Her own voice had faded, too, and she could barely hear her own words. "Arashi? Arashi, where are you?" The petals whirled closer to her, forming a sweet-smelling shell that threatened to send her into a coma with nothing more than the scent of flowers.

She coughed due to the overwhelming aroma, and a few of the petals stirred under the current of air. _I have to focus... _she thought faintly. _I can't lose... Not just for me, for Arashi and Amaya... I have to focus..._

~X~

_The Jonin sensei assigned to Hitomi, Arashi, and Ren was a tall man somewhere in his twenties, with a long ponytail of prematurely gray hair – a clan trait, he claimed – and bright yellow eyes with faint laugh lines around them. His name was Kinkou Seito, and the test he gave them in order to become full Genin was simple: break one of the ultimate genjutsu of Kirigakure._

"_The Kimugan," he explained to Hitomi when it was her turn, "is an ocular Kekkei Genkai passed down through my clan, the Kinkou clan. Probably haven't heard of it, as Kekkei Genkai only recently became... acceptable." His vision flickered into the distance, as if he were remembering something from long ago. "Anyway," he continued, "it is the ultimate hypnotic technique, even more powerful than the hidden jutsu of Konohagakure's Yamanaka clan. Under its influence, your mind is entirely mine. Can see everything inside your brain, and control your actions how I see fit."_

_Hitomi noted that Seito had a very irritating speech pattern: A lot of the time, he wouldn't say the noun or pronoun at the beginning of a sentence. "But... how do I break it?" she asked, raising one eyebrow._

"_Think I'm going to tell you?" Seito asked. "That's the test. Have to figure it out yourself." He laughed, then stared directly into Hitomi's eyes. His pupils took on a square shape, and the sides of the square began to sink in, becoming concave. The square's corners, on the other hand, reached outwards, curving around to form an inexplicably mesmerizing swirl pattern._

_The swirl began to rotate, and Hitomi found that she had no control over her body, no matter how much she struggled. _Okay, _she thought. _It's a genjutsu, so all I have to do is use my chakra to overcome his... But wait! He's a Jonin, so I wouldn't stand a chance. And Ren already passed, so it can't be that...

_She concentrated her chakra anyway, wondering if Seito might have gone easy on her to give her a chance. After three tries, she decided that it definitely couldn't be broken like a conventional genjutsu. She could feel the Jonin's mental touch on her thoughts, looking through her memories casually._

_Entering the academy... Meeting Arashi... Failing a test, and promising it would never happen again... Breaking that promise, and being jealous of Ren for getting help from an older student... Working hard, and acing a test... Passing the graduation exam... Being overjoyed that Arashi was on her team..._

I can't give up! _she told herself. _I've come too far for this! The joy of doing well and getting better... I will continue to experience that! I cannot – will not – give up! _She held onto that thought, letting the emotions of ambition, pride, and victorious joy fill her head. Wielding her determination like a weapon, she reached out to the bonds with which Seito was controlling her mind..._

_...and broke them._

_She stumbled for a moment as she regained control of her limbs. The gray-haired man caught her by the arm, steadying her before she fell. She looked up at him, grinning triumphantly. "I win!" she declared, watching the design in his eyes retract back to a normal circular shape._

"_Good job," Seito replied, letting go of her arm and mussing up her hair in a paternal fashion. "The only way to beat the Kimugan is with incredible willpower, and the ability to focus and concentrate to the greatest extent possible. And you have a lot of willpower... and a surprisingly large amount of chakra, too, come to think of it. Have that in common with your teammates."_

"_But... what was Ren thinking of?" Hitomi asked surprisedly. "You can't overcome the Kimugan by just thinking of test scores, right?"_

"_Ren?" Seito asked in return. "Was thinking of... a girl, actually. Someone he looks up to." A lopsided grin appeared on his face for a moment. "His business, though. Go on now, it's Arashi's turn."_

_Hitomi nodded, grinning again before running off to join Ren. "Good luck!" she called to Arashi as she passed him, a faint blush appearing on her face. _Determination and chakra... _she thought. _That's what it takes to be an excellent ninja, and I have a lot of both. I definitely won't give up! ...Well, unless it's life-or-death for my team. That goes without saying. _The grin remained on her face for a long time afterwards._

~X~

_Can't give up, can't give up,_ Hitomi repeated in her head like a mantra. _Can't give up..._ She gathered up her chakra, pulling it into her center and holding it there for several seconds. Around her, the flower petals continued to swirl, closing in on her, but through her single-mindedness, she couldn't seem to smell their cloying scent anymore.

Her chakra continued to build up, swirling around almost painfully as it begged to be released. She gritted her teeth, brought her eyebrows down in a determined expression, and expelled her chakra all at once. The petals in the air rushed backwards as if blown by a powerful wind, then faded away into nothingness. The noises of the crowd – Arashi was still shouting, she noticed with a smile – and the image of her surroundings came back into focus.

She got to her feet in a single motion, then spun around with a grin on her face. Staring straight at Chisaki, arms crossed, she shouted: "I have more chakra than you! I have more fashion sense than you! And I definitely want to win this more than you do! I've been here for the past two years, and I haven't seen you around. You know, I've really never seen anyone pass on their first try. Amaya says that one guy with the ponytail did, but whatever." She shrugged. "The point is, even though we're probably the same age, I'm better than you. More experienced. So come at me!"

They both began forming hand seals again. Arashi, Hitomi noted, was cheering for her, as loud as ever. She kept on grinning.

~X~conclusion~X~

Author-sama: As you can probably guess, this chapter had a theme. Specifically, "not giving up." In the first part, Shingo refused to give up, and he was nearly killed because of that. In the second part, Hitomi refused to give up, and she was able to stay awake to overcome the genjutsu. I like showing the good and bad of things during the same story...

Spark: Oh, and for Those Of You Not In The Know, the "mesh armor" Author-sama refers to when describing people's outfits is a common staple of ninja clothing, often mistaken for fishnets. You know, like Anko's bodysuit. Hmm... Is it just me, or is this chapter exactly as long as the last one?

Author-sama: Oh yeah, it is... Now, we had a bit of expansion on relationships in this chapter. The mutual crushing between Arashi and Hitomi was made more clear, and we had a bit of foreshadowing in the flashback about Ren-

Spark: Don't give it away, dammit!

Author-sama: Sorry, sorry... Anyway, I still crave reviews! I'll even appreciate flames if they tell me what exactly I need to fix. Now, please stay tuned for...

**Episode Three: Battle of the Fashion-Minded**

"Your outfit really sucks."

"Shut up! So does yours!"

_1-29-2011: Corrected spelling error, added content._


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